Mobile Device Project

Software

Blender 2.93

Adobe Photoshop 2021

HandBrake 1.3.3

1.1 Concept

The first main undertaking for the second semester my team was tasked to design a mobile, portable wearable or integrated device following through its processing cycle from the initial idea to a visual/physical prototype. I was part of group four with one member from each discipline within the Digital Media Development department. Daniel Herbert was our designer, Luke Jackson representing the C.A.D. pathway, Jamie Joyce our developer and Adam Spake the 3D visualist. My main duties resided within making the 3D environment and planning the animations. Our goal was to develop a portable haptic scope that offers aiming assistance to archery practitioners and the visually impaired.

1.1.1

1.2 Research

During this phase of the project I mainly focused on character and environment research. My main inspiration for the former came from fictional characters such as the T1000 from the Terminator 2 movie and the Silver Surfer from the Marvel comic book series.(1.2.1) I aimed for a minimalistic theme a robotic mannequin with no facial features and a metallic texture.

1.2.1

When creating the 3D scene I wanted to capture a sci-fi/industrial design theme a bright, clean and airy space. My intention with the grand environment and distance was to invoke a sense of difficulty when aiming without our product. I was inspired by high-tech warehouses, hangars and space stations.(1.2.2)

1.2.2

1.3 Structuring

Organising forms an important part of all my work. For affective workflow I organise images, renders, files and alike. This not just saves valuable time but enhances productivity. The project folder consist many logically devided subfolders(1.3.1)

1.3.1

1.4 Modelling the Character

Importing sketches or reference images into Blender greatly speeds up the time spent modelling. By creating a basic cube and extruding its faces I traced the shillouettes of the hand-drawn manaquinn from front and profile views.(1.4.1) I gradually increased the detail level by adding more edge-loops and moving vertices on all three axis.(1.4.2) With The time consuming process was substantially reduced by the use of mirror and smooth modifiers. I also made modells of environmental assets such as the arrow and the shooting board.(1.4.3)

1.4.1

1.4.2

1.4.3

1.5 Modelling the Hangar

My initial idea of a wast indoor futuristic space occupying the whole wiev was achieved by scaling up the hangar.(1.5.3) I tested various shapes and forms for both the roof and the floor.(1.5.1,) I almost settled with a semi-dome made out of an echo-sphere.(1.5.2) Eventually the former inherited an abstract contour while I went with a hexagonal pattern for the latter using the array modifier.

1.5.3

1.5.1

1.5.2

1.6 Modelling the Beam Structure

The final part of modelling was all about mistakes and learning from them. Due to impending deadlines I needed an immediate solutions for modelling the desired main feature the beam system for the hangar. Unfortunately I copied the vertices from an existing roof element in order to produce the same size and outline not realising that there were numerous duplicate verts. I added a large number of segments and applied various modifiers such as shade smooth, array, solidify, bevelling started to generate seemingly random extruding vertices and unnecessary loopcuts.(1.6.1) Only by starting over the modelling I managed to overcome the issues.

1.6.1

1.7 Texturing

The manaquinn's chrome texture was relatively easy to replicate. I attached a Layer Weight node to a ColorRamp(1.7.1) node while this was connected to a Glossy BSDF.(1.7.3) By setting the blend to 0.7 on the Layer Weight I just had to adjust the Roughness on the BSDF node. The texture's characteristic change can be observed on this animation.(1.7.2)

1.7.1

1.7.2

1.7.3

The hexagonal underlit floor was the result of numerous filters and nodes. I tried various materials (stones, marble and alike however I applied image textures of a tile like material. Combining the colour, dispacement, normal and roughness material nodes the final result was life-like.(1.7.3) Finally I placed an oversized plate under the tiles emmitting a blueish hue for a futiristic atmosphere.

1.7.4

1.8 Rendering

Unfortunately rendering is where this project fell short. Due to my inexperience and the looming deadline the rendered video and images were to dark, underexposed and grainy.(1.8.1, 1.8.2) Nevertheless I learned a lot from this project and in retrospect I am well aware what steps to take in order to avoid similar situations in the future.

1.8.1

1.8.2

1.9 Animating Objects

Animation was a brand new discipline for me and without prior knowledge I managed to grasp the basics in a short amount of time. I created a nurbs path by pressing Shift+A adding a path within the curve dropdown. Next step was to make the arrow follow this route.(1.9.1) This was achieved by adding the follow path relationship from the object constraint properties setting the nurbs path as a target. I refined the movement smoother by adjusting the offset.

1.9.1

2.0 Camera Animation

Similarly to the arrow animation the camera was following an assigned nurbs path. Circling around the archer and travelling parallel but somewhat ahead of the arrow.(2.0.3) Then also from the object constraint panel a damped track was added and the arrow set as target.(2.0.2) I also changed the track axis to -Z ensuring that the camera was facing toward the arrow while following it's own track. (2.0.1) Again some adjustments to both camera and arrow offsets were necessary in favor of continuous and lag free tracking.

2.0.1

2.0.2

2.0.3

2.1 Lighting

According to my early plans I wanted to construct a bright space inside the hangar with god-rays illuminating dust particles. I intended to achive this with natural ligh shining through skylights, and huge windows. I made several variants of the hangar roof and walls.(2.1.1) Since the particle system was not part of the final work I added more windows to the roof and entirely removed the back wall.

2.1.1

2.2 Conclusion

Although character and camera animation may not have been in the focus of my interest credit to the Mobile Device Project, I gained some valuable experience in these principles. This endeavor since then became more than just a skill. I used and most likely will use animations on many future projects and presentations including my own website. Working with a great team such as this is something I missed through the other projects in year one. The ease of communication, friendly attitude and work ethic of the team was unparalleled. Despite my inexperience in rendering and the poor quality of the final video I was positively pleased with my models, composition, and arrangement.

2.3.1